Reddit mentions of Crystallizing Public Opinion

It was this guy who literally wrote the book on it (two books actually), he spoke of "invisible hands" and his lack of fame is testament to how good he was! He intended to use it for the public good and was pretty dismayed that Goebbels was using it as a template to oppress Jews.

> The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.

- Edward Berneys, 1928

Excellent documentary here.

It is easy to say that the media is owned as /u/kroqmin did. This is correct, and causational. However, there is technique to the process, and from the perspective of people working in the media industry, the control is not at all visible (except in unusual situations).

What you are looking for is the work by Edward Bernays. Very few people know of his work, even people in media and public relations. He was Sigmund Freud's nephew, and combined Freud's work with crowd psychology and built the modern field of public relations. Here's a partial list of some of the things he was personally responsible for:

• Women smoking as a symbol of gender equality.
  
  
• Bacon for breakfast.
  
  
• The working man should invest in the stock market.
  
  
• The overthrow of the democratic government of Guatemala in 1954, giving us the term "banana republic."
  
  
• The message that got him started: The role of America is to make the world safe for democracy.
  
  
• Joseph Goebbels used his book to teach the Germans to hate their friends, neighbors, and business partners: the Jews.
  
  One facet of his technique is best illustrated in the overthrow of Guatemala. He paid local actors to perform pro-Communist "demonstrations," then flew down newspaper reporters from prominent magazines and newspapers to view the demonstrations. These reporters saw the demonstrations, saw nothing about the fact that they were 100% staged by paid actors, then wrote about the new beachfront of Communism on America's front door ... at the height of the Cold War. Congress authorized the CIA to move within weeks, and United Fruit Company got to keep their tax-advantaged banana plantation land while the Guatemalans got to enjoy 50 years of brutal military dictatorship.
  
  This technique is widely used today. You can buy his book on Amazon, it's cheap, short, and a good read. Bernays originated the term, "Engineering of Consent." Think what that term means in a democracy. Consent of the governed? Informed consent? The implications are profound.
  
  As far as I can tell, the media ownership by the 1% is really only used to shut down dangerous lines of inquiry. So for example, if anyone had revealed that the Communist activist demonstrators were actually paid actors, that line of reporting would be quickly shut down. This is fairly unusual, since most reporters are just as asleep as the rest of us. However, think about how many times there are rumors of agent provocateurs being the ones instigating violence in protests? Paid actors creating political scenarios? Shit like that gets shut down, and that is where you see the control being exerted.

For a quick dose of non-fiction read Edward Bernays - Crystallizing Public Opinion. Written in the '20's, this one was penned by the venerable father of public relations. This book is as close to being a modern version of The Prince as any other book; Bernays gives the reader a glimpse of his hand as he explores the craft of manipulating and contorting popular opinion that is PR. A true puppet-master of the masses.

Nephew to Freud, he was very much influenced by Freud's theories including his assumptions about symbolism and the unconscious mind. He used Freud's work, along his far stretching connections in all forms of media and industry, to implant an opinion, notion, or taste in the public's mind.